Chocolate Man Cookies

So sorry for my lack in posting again lately!  I have been busy and I have been sick.  I know, I know...excuses, excuses! 

Today has been a rough day for me as it would have been my son's 26th birthday.  It also marks the 3rd anniversary of losing him in that tragic car accident.  It is with all the love and support of my friends and family that I am able to keep on keeping on!  It is in the hands of someone far greater than me that keeps me so strong! 

These cookies sure brought a smile to my face.  I know they are not homemade and they are really not even the greatest (they are ok, don't go turning me in the the Keebler Elves or anything) but when my Tony was just a little guy, he used to call these "chocolate man cookies".  I saw them and just had to buy them in the store.  Hey, sometimes it's the littlest things that make us smile :)

Now for something just a little creative.  Remember how I like to recycle items?  Well, I dressed up this container to use on Saturday at my garage sale - any locals, come on over and buy some stuff LOL!  I am making the sale easier on myself by not pricing anything.  It is going to be whatever you decide to give me for it!  All proceeds are going toward my fundraising for the Susan G Komen 3 Day for the Cure Walk.  Yeppers, I am walking the 60 miles next year!

Happy Scrappin'

Dig Pink and a new recipe

Yesterday was a fun, productive day at the Cellar Dweller's Dream.  The girls were over for a day of scrapping and talk :)  I made a yummy wild rice soup (thanks Carole for the recipe).  It was so easy and tasted so good!  I will share that recipe with you now (along with my notes).

4 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
1/2 cup wild rice, rinsed and drained
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
12/ tsp. pepper
1 lb. chicken cut up
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp.flour

In crock pot, combine all ingredients except sour cream and flour.  Cover and cook on low for about 6-8 hours or until chicken is done and rice is tender.

Mix flour into sour cream and stir into soup.  Increase to high heat setting, cover and cook about 20 more minutes or until mixture bubbles around edges and thickens.

*Now, I will tell you that I don't follow recipes exactly (I know, you probably have figured that out by now!)  I didn't have any celery and wasn't going to buy any just for this as the rest would go to waste.  I was doubling the recipe anyway, so instead of using 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, I used one can of cream of celery soup,  I also didn't have thyme leaves, but used ground thyme instead.  I then also added a can of mushrooms.  I used fat free or reduced fat soups and sour cream and it turned out fabulous!

Then, today I was busy making some pins for my niece's volleyball team - well, actually for their Dig Pink night.  You are going to want to attend the game on Tuesday, October 4th.  The team has many fun activities planned to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.  These fun pins I made will be available for sale that night :)

I have much more artwork to show you, but some of it will have to wait until October (I know, that is just around the corner, though).  I was creating artwork using the new October Stamp of the Month, so stay tuned for that.  I'm pretty pumped up for all the creating that was going on!

Happy Scrappin'

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

We've all heard it, but how many of us actually do recycle?  I know I do - and I'm not talking about just bringing my cans and bottles in (but I do that, too).  I take the Reuse portion one step further.  You've seen my posts about altering things.  A lot of my girlfriends call me the Queen of Altering :)  Just click on the 'altered items' link in the left column under labels and you will see some of the things I have altered such as this candy container.

Imagine my delight when I saw some adorable bags made out of bags at the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago.  Bags made out of bags?  Yeah, that's what I said.  Here is the one I ordered and picked up the other night.

I absolutely fell in love with these.  See, my new friend Kristi crochets these out of plastic grocery bags.  Mine is a medium size and it takes about 50 bags to make it.  I special ordered a white/red one so she used Target bags (she has a lot of friends and neighbors saving their plastic bags for her).  Can you pick out the Target logo?  The bow was made out of a Christmas bag of theirs - see the snowflake? 

She can make them in pretty much any color you can find plastic bags in.  She does a smaller 'lunch' bag, my medium 'market' bag, or a larger 'beach' tote.  Talk about recycling in a fabulous way!  It should pretty much last forever, and think of how easy it will be to wipe clean :)  If you are interested in a bag such as this, email Kristi for more information.  Just tell her I sent you!

In fact, I'd love to see what some of you have created by repurposing something.  Send me your photos and I'll have a little contest (put recycling or something similar in the subject column).  I have a little project in my head that I 'need' to get made.  I'll show it to you when I hear back from some of you showing me what you've altered, reused, recycled...(see, this will keep me on target to get my project done, too!)

I can't wait to see your projects!

Happy Scrappin'

Club starts on Sunday

Who is ready to join me?  I can even do a long distance membership for you if you are interested.

We meet once each month and you get to create a 2 page layout each time.  Each Club member takes turns earning Freebies as the hostess.  Sound fun?  Let me know right away if you would like to join as it starts up on Sunday afternoon.

 This is the layout the girls will be creating this month.  I used the new Typeset paper pack along with some Cricut cutouts, Milepost Shapes corrugated cutouts, and the September Stamp of the Month, Limited Edition.

Contact me for all the details :)

Happy Scrappin'

Sonoma Artwork

Today's post is brought to you by the artwork of Peggy.  She did a fabulous job with the Sonoma paper pack!

I can't wait to do some more swapping with Peggy - welcome to the group!

Happy Scrappin'

9-10-11

Did you notice today's date?  9-10-11  This has got to mean it's going to be a great day, right?  Well, I'm going to assume so anyway!

Today I have some artwork for you from my friend Lynn.  She has done some great things with the Mischief paper pack!  I love getting artwork from Lynn!

loving the liquid glass additions!

and some great cards

Happy Scrappin'

Dreamin' Artwork

Today I have some beautiful artwork from my friend Sheri using the new Dreamin' Paper Pack.

I just love how easy it is to cut out and layer the stamp images when you use the new Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge :)

And the Cricut also cuts out these custom shaped cards for us - easy, peasy!

And check out the cool water bottle hanger.  I love it!

Happy Scrappin'

Card class cards

Last night I taught a card class at my Cellar Dweller's Dream.  It was a blast and the 'students' had a good time, too :)

Here are the cards they got to make...

 Happy Scrappin'

Good Luck Bears Volleyball

Today's post has a little artwork that I made for the Clayton Bears Volleyball team and their coaches.  My niece is on that team and I will be going to a lot of volleyball games in the near future.  Their season has started out great so far in that they have beaten both of their opponents so far.  I hope they can keep up that great start they have going.

The girls on the team all take turns making something inspirational for they teammates.  I just decided that I would make something for them all, too.  I made these little magnets for their lockers for them with an inspirational quote on them.

Good Luck Bears on a great season!  I sure look forward to watching you play :)

On a side note, I am thinking of my daddy today.  See, it would have been his 66th birthday.  He has been gone for a little over 14 years now.  Not a day goes by that I don't think about him, but I know he is taking good care of my kids up in heaven!

Happy Scrappin'

Limited Edition SOTM Artwork

Today's artwork is brought to you from my friend Rachel.  We do a Stamp of the Month swap and she had September's stamp set, Limited Edition.

She did a fabulous job, as always, of showcasing the stamps in all her artwork.  First up is a couple of cards.

Then she made this fun mini album.

And just look at the layout she created with the tags and the cricut flowers.

This stamp set is only available during the month of September, so contact me soon to get yours ordered.  Click on the Stamp of the Month tab at the top of my blog for all the details of how to get it for only $5.00!

Happy Scrappin'